nuclear-news

Disagreements mar the progress of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

The smooth conduct of the meeting masked the disturbing nuclear discord lurking underneath. Remedial action is needed if the NPT is to retain its authority and continue to deliver the security benefits it has for over 40 years.

Undercurrent of discord at nuclear treaty talks. The Star.com, 16 May 12 The problems of the international nuclear order are frequent subjects of our daily news, yet scant attention is given to the central treaty that governs this sphere of global activity. With 189 signatories,   the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) ) is the world’s most widely subscribed to international security agreement and contains the only legally binding commitment by states to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The first preparatory committee session of states leading up to the NPT’s 2015 review conference was held in Vienna from April 30 to May 11. Superficially, the conference was a success with its chairman, Australian Ambassador Peter Woolcott, issuing a 101-paragraph document summarizing the discussions over two weeks……
Many states parties noted . . . could not conceal the continuing sharp division of opinion held by the NPT’s membership as to the right balance between the treaty’s three “pillars”: disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. …..
the five nuclear weapon states are content to reiterate stale formulas they know to be unworkable and hence become increasingly complicit in the failure to fulfill the longest standing “priority” of the NPT.

The non-nuclear weapon states pushed back on some of this nuclear inertia at the Vienna meeting. Notably, Switzerland, on behalf of 16 states, made a statement on the “catastrophic humanitarian consequences” of nuclear use and how nuclear weapons and the threat to employ them are fundamentally incompatible with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

Interestingly, of NATO member states, only Norway and Denmark joined this statement, suggesting that other allies are torn between their espousal of humanitarian principles and their membership in an alliance that still embraces nuclear deterrence…..
While the five nuclear-weapon states managed a united front through most of the meeting, an ominous note was struck by both the Russian and Chinese delegates in their closing remarks. They raised the subject of U.S. programs for missile defence and warned of the negative impact these would have on global strategic stability and the prospects for making further progress on nuclear disarmament.

The smooth conduct of the meeting masked the disturbing nuclear discord lurking underneath. Remedial action is needed if the NPT is to retain its authority and continue to deliver the security benefits it has for over 40 years.

May 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, politics international